Director Linda Waite was interviewed for the Population
Reference Bureau’s Webcast series about her research.

Fall CoA Newsletter

The inaugural CoA Newsletter is now available!

Letter from the Director

With the approach of Winter I am pleased to present the inaugural issue of ourNewsletter for the Center on
Demography and Economics of Aging (CoA). Through the
newsletter, we aim to share the activities, developments,
research projects and people involved in the Center. The CoA
has helped its faculty associates conceptualize and carry out
novel and innovative research for 19 years, playing a key role
in the growth of aging research at the University of Chicago
and beyond. Support from both the National Institute on Aging
(P30 AG012857) and NORC at the University of Chicago helps us
cultivate a thriving Center through which we produce
interdisciplinary research on aging. In these pages we share
our history, publication highlights, and plans for the current
and upcoming quarters.

Our beautiful, updated offices and conference spaces are housed by NORC at the University
of Chicago. NORC staff members are invaluable to the CoA, providing essential administrative,
project management and computing services to CoA associates and trainees. The result
is an exciting, dynamic environment that fosters daily interaction and interdisciplinary
collaboration amongst our members and visitors. Hosting regular collaborative events,
such as investigator meetings, working groups, workshops, and conferences, is just
one way in which NORC facilitates opportunities for today’s scholars to engage in
cutting-edge, interdisciplinary research.

In launching the CoA newsletter we intend to highlight the recent accomplishments of
our 31 associates, 16 affiliates, and 7 trainees, including examples of their diverse,
cutting- edge (and often multi-disciplinary) research. Our membership includes a wide
spectrum of scholars, representing a variety of personal and disciplinary backgrounds,
areas of expertise, and stages in their careers. We are unified by a common interest
in advancing age- related research and by opportunities to collaborate and participate
in CoA related projects and events. Our goal in launching this newsletter is to share
some of these achievements with our members and others whom we hope will find our
work intriguing.

In this issue, you will read about our associates’ activities, such as new research
on marital quality in late life and the development of a new economic model for expediting
the trial phase of pharmaceutical development. You will also read about our specialized
training program in the demography and economics of aging at the University of Chicago,
also funded by an NIA grant (T32 AG000243), which provides promising young pre-doctoral
and post- doctoral scholars critical resources for developing research skills and
publications in the fields of demography and aging.

The CoA fosters and supports research on aging through the work of our faculty associates
and affiliates and through our training programs. We also work closely with other
centers within the Academic Research Centers of NORC at the University of Chicago,
such as the Population Research Center (PRC). We invite you to attend the Demography
Workshops that we co-host with the PRC on Thursdays at noon and to contact us to discuss
collaboration possibilities. We invite faculty from other institutions to visit the
CoA and hope this newsletter will inform and inspire interest in the Center.

Data from the first wave of the Japanese Study of Aging and Retirement (JSTAR) is available
for public use. JSTAR is designed to be highly comparable to the HRS, SHARE and ELSA
studies. Shared data on Japan is quite rare, so this is an exciting development. Information
about the study and application procedures for accessing the data can be found at
the RIETI website.

The Specialized Training Program in the Demography and Economics of Aging is funded
by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) grant, #T32000243. Since its inception during
the 1994-95 school year, the program has consistently produced productive and engaged
young scholars in the field of aging research and demography. The program is designed
to train graduate students interested in the demography and economics of aging through
the development of basic and applied research, and policy-making and analysis.

Each year, the program supports four predoctoral fellows with at least two years of
graduate work at the University of Chicago in addition to two postdoctoral fellows
from across the United States. In 2009, the training program was expanded to include
student affiliates, who do not qualify for financial support the program’s NIA fellowships,
in their first three years of graduate work at the University in addition to the six
trainees. In addition to the pre-doctoral and postdoctoral trainees, pre-doctoral
affiliates actively participate in the training program, taking classes, working with
Center mentors, and attending the Demography Workshop and postmortem. This expansion
further increases exposure to the demography and economics of aging research among
incoming graduate students; encourages young scholars to pursue demography and aging
research; and increases collaboration in aging research at the CoA, the Population
Research Center, and the University of Chicago.

The three departments/schools that participate in the training program are Economics,
Sociology and the Harris School of Public Policy Studies, with some faculty from the
Health Studies Department, the School of Social Service Administration and the Booth
Graduate School of Business. In addition, the program attracts occasional applicants
from other departments and schools including Health Studies, History, Human Development
and the Booth Graduate School of Business and the School of Social Service Administration.

In addition to maintaining an active research environment, the Center on Aging hosts
workshops and lectures to advance the study of the Demography and Economics of Aging
both at the University of Chicago and elsewhere. The Demography Workshop (LINK) hosts
scholars from research centers and institutions of higher learning from across the
United States on a weekly basis to present and discuss their research with students
and faculty at the University of Chicago. Additionally, the Center hosts the Chicago
Core on Biomarkers in Population-Based Aging Research’s (CCBAR) annual workshop, which
facilitates an ongoing discussion and collaboration on biomarker collection in population-based
research on aging.

For further information on these and more events at the Center on Aging and related
to the Demography and Economics of aging, please use the navigation links to the left.

The Center on Demography and Economics of Aging (CoA), directed by Linda Waite, is
one of eight research centers housed within the National Opinion Research Center (NORC)
Academic Research Centers at the University of the Chicago. The CoA was established
as an Exploratory Center in 1994 with a P-20 grant from the National Institute on
Aging (NIA). Currently, the CoA (Grant P30 AG012857) is one of fourteen NIA funded
Centers across the U.S. which investigate aspects of health and health care, the societal
impact of population aging, and the economic and social circumstances of the elderly.

The CoA aims to: (1) foster an exciting, dynamic intellectual environment for research
in the demography and economics of aging; (2) provide research support services; (3)
encourage the development of new research projects and research foci in the demography
and economics of aging; and (4) support and facilitate the inclusion and analysis
of biomeasures of health in new and ongoing projects at the University of Chicago
and elsewhere. It provides support for research projects in four key areas: (1) social
relationships, living arrangements, and family; (2) the social context of aging; (3)
health care research; and (4) biobehavioral pathways.

The Center operates using three cores, which facilitate and support an active program
of research and training: (A) the Administration and Research Support Core, directed
by Linda Waite, which provides general administrative support to Center associates;
(B) the Program Development Core, directed by Kathleen Cagney, consisting of a program
of small-scale and pilot projects and support for new faculty development in aging;
and (C) the External Innovative Network Core, directed by Stacy Tessler Lindau, with
a focus on biomarkers in population-based aging research.

The Center supports a highly diverse faculty of 47 research affiliates in sociology,
economics/business, the Pritzker School of Medicine, the School of Social Service
Administration, and the Harris School of Public Policy. The research portfolios of
faculty members draw upon expertise in medicine, epidemiology, and the biological
and social sciences. The Center has nourished an environment for research in the demography
and economics of aging by providing research support services, encouraging the development
of new research projects and research foci, and facilitating collaborative research
and teaching among scientists working in the field of aging research.

Heroes of Geriatric Care: William Dale,
CoA Research Associate and Chief of Geriatrics and
Palliative Medicine at the University of Chicago, was
named First Prize winner of the first annual Heroes of
Geriatric Care story contest sponsored by the The John A. Hartford
Foundation. Dale's entry, Geriatrics
Saved his Life!, is a tribute to Erica Riley,
LPN, a “secret weapon” who helps an older, homeless
cancer patient survive a Windy City winter against the
odds.

Director Linda Waite was interviewed for the Population
Reference Bureau’s Webcast series about her research.

Fall CoA Newsletter

The inaugural CoA Newsletter is now available!

Letter from the Director

With the approach of Winter I am pleased to present the inaugural issue of ourNewsletter for the Center on
Demography and Economics of Aging (CoA). Through the
newsletter, we aim to share the activities, developments,
research projects and people involved in the Center. The CoA
has helped its faculty associates conceptualize and carry out
novel and innovative research for 19 years, playing a key role
in the growth of aging research at the University of Chicago
and beyond. Support from both the National Institute on Aging
(P30 AG012857) and NORC at the University of Chicago helps us
cultivate a thriving Center through which we produce
interdisciplinary research on aging. In these pages we share
our history, publication highlights, and plans for the current
and upcoming quarters.

Our beautiful, updated offices and conference spaces are housed by NORC at the University
of Chicago. NORC staff members are invaluable to the CoA, providing essential administrative,
project management and computing services to CoA associates and trainees. The result
is an exciting, dynamic environment that fosters daily interaction and interdisciplinary
collaboration amongst our members and visitors. Hosting regular collaborative events,
such as investigator meetings, working groups, workshops, and conferences, is just
one way in which NORC facilitates opportunities for today’s scholars to engage in
cutting-edge, interdisciplinary research.

In launching the CoA newsletter we intend to highlight the recent accomplishments of
our 31 associates, 16 affiliates, and 7 trainees, including examples of their diverse,
cutting- edge (and often multi-disciplinary) research. Our membership includes a wide
spectrum of scholars, representing a variety of personal and disciplinary backgrounds,
areas of expertise, and stages in their careers. We are unified by a common interest
in advancing age- related research and by opportunities to collaborate and participate
in CoA related projects and events. Our goal in launching this newsletter is to share
some of these achievements with our members and others whom we hope will find our
work intriguing.

In this issue, you will read about our associates’ activities, such as new research
on marital quality in late life and the development of a new economic model for expediting
the trial phase of pharmaceutical development. You will also read about our specialized
training program in the demography and economics of aging at the University of Chicago,
also funded by an NIA grant (T32 AG000243), which provides promising young pre-doctoral
and post- doctoral scholars critical resources for developing research skills and
publications in the fields of demography and aging.

The CoA fosters and supports research on aging through the work of our faculty associates
and affiliates and through our training programs. We also work closely with other
centers within the Academic Research Centers of NORC at the University of Chicago,
such as the Population Research Center (PRC). We invite you to attend the Demography
Workshops that we co-host with the PRC on Thursdays at noon and to contact us to discuss
collaboration possibilities. We invite faculty from other institutions to visit the
CoA and hope this newsletter will inform and inspire interest in the Center.

Sincerely,

Linda J. Waite

Lucy Flower Professor of Sociology

University of Chicago

Director, Center on Demography and Economics of Aging

newsletter-2013Fall 2013 Newsletter

nl2013-letterLetter from Linda

Letter from the Director

Welcome to the inaugural issue of our newsletter for the Center on Demography and Economics
of Aging (CoA). Through the newsletter, we aim to share the activities, developments,
research projects and people involved in the Center. The CoA has helped its faculty
associates conceptualize and carry out novel and innovative research for 19 years,
playing a key role in the growth of aging research at the University of Chicago and
beyond. Support from both the National Institute on Aging (P30 AG012857) and NORC
at the University of Chicago helps us cultivate a thriving Center through which we
produce interdisciplinary research on aging. In these pages we share our history,
publication highlights, and plans for the current and upcoming quarters.

Our beautiful, updated offices and conference spaces are housed by NORC at the University
of Chicago. NORC staff members are invaluable to the CoA, providing essential administrative,
project management and computing services to CoA associates and trainees. The result
is an exciting, dynamic environment that fosters daily interaction and interdisciplinary
collaboration amongst our members and visitors. Hosting regular collaborative events,
such as investigator meetings, working groups, workshops, and conferences, is just
one way in which NORC facilitates opportunities for today’s scholars to engage in
cutting-edge, interdisciplinary research.

In launching the CoA newsletter we intend to highlight the recent accomplishments of
our 31 associates, 16 affiliates, and 7 trainees, including examples of their diverse,
cutting- edge (and often multi-disciplinary) research. Our membership includes a wide
spectrum of scholars, representing a variety of personal and disciplinary backgrounds,
areas of expertise, and stages in their careers. We are unified by a common interest
in advancing age- related research and by opportunities to collaborate and participate
in CoA related projects and events. Our goal in launching this newsletter is to share
some of these achievements with our members and others whom we hope will find our
work intriguing.

In this issue, you will read about our associates’ activities, such as new research
on marital quality in late life and the development of a new economic model for expediting
the trial phase of pharmaceutical development. You will also read about our specialized
training program in the demography and economics of aging at the University of Chicago,
also funded by an NIA grant (T32 AG000243), which provides promising young pre-doctoral
and post- doctoral scholars critical resources for developing research skills and
publications in the fields of demography and aging.

The CoA fosters and supports research on aging through the work of our faculty associates
and affiliates and through our training programs. We also work closely with other
centers within the Academic Research Centers of NORC at the University of Chicago,
such as the Population Research Center (PRC). We invite you to attend the Demography
Workshops that we co-host with the PRC on Thursdays at noon and to contact us to discuss
collaboration possibilities. We invite faculty from other institutions to visit the
CoA and hope this newsletter will inform and inspire interest in the Center.

Sincerely,

Linda J. Waite

Lucy Flower Professor of Sociology

University of Chicago

Director, Center on Demography and Economics of Aging

nl2013-recent-researchRecent Research

Center on Aging affiliates and associates regularly contribute interesting and important
research to the field. Findings from two recent projects are highlighted below.

Martial Quality in Late Life

Husbands' traits may affect late life marital quality more than their wives' traits,
according to a new study published by researchers using the National Social Life,
Health and Aging Project (NSHAP).James Iveniuk, a Ph.D. student in
the Sociology Department, Linda Waite, Edward
O. Laumann, Martha K. McClintock and Andrew
Teidt, a former Center on Aging post-doctoral
fellow, used data from NSHAP to link self-reported
characteristics of husbands to self-reported
characteristics of their wives, and vice-versa, in
order to assess the importance of Big Five
personality traits and health for marital conflict.

Figure 1

After developing an innovative model of the Big Five, the authors constructed a new
factor which measures positive responses across Big Five facets. The authors named
this new factor Positivity, and husbands' Positivity was associated with less marital
conflict. However, wives' Positivity was not associated with any differences in marital
conflict. Furthermore, wives reported more conflict if their husbands were in worse
physical health, but the reverse was not true - husbands did not report more conflict
if their wives were in worse health. The authors explain this asymmetry in terms of
gender differences in marital roles; wives are more likely to engage in emotional
labor and caretaking, and therefore having a partner with poor health or negative
traits would be more stressful or burdensome for wives than husbands.

A New Model for Clinical Trials

John R. Birge, the Jerry W. and Carol Lee Levin Professor of Operations Management
at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and CoA Post-Doctoral FellowVishal Ahuja have
devised a way to expedite the trial phase of
pharmaceuticals development by combining two
mathematical frameworks. Conducting clinical trials
on a new drug is expensive and often takes years,
and sometimes the results only prove the drug to be
useless—or, worse, harmful to patients. In a
traditional design of a clinical trial, researchers
divide patients into roughly equal groups and they
randomly assign patients either a treatment or a
placebo. At the end of a series of trials,
researchers use statistical analysis to understand
how well each treatment worked. In clinical
practice, doctors use an adaptive process to learn
how a treatment affects a single patient, and that
knowledge is incorporated into how the next patient
is treated. This process can produce desirable
results much more quickly, but these adaptive trials
cannot gather information from multiple patients
participating in a study simultaneously, which is
frequently the requirement to study new drugs and
treatments.

To solve that constraint, Birge and Ahuja combine two mathematical frameworks, a Markov
Decision Process (MDP), which can be applied when event outcomes are partly decided
and partly random, and a Bayesian learning framework, which involves using new data
to update the probability that an event will occur. In this new model for clinical
trials, probabilities at the beginning of a trial are derived from what clinicians
know and believe at the time and as the trial progresses and clinicians obtain more
information, they can update their beliefs dynamically.

Birge and Ahuja tested their model on data from a 2008 trial on a stent, a device designed
to improve blood flow to an artery in the brains of stroke patients. The trial was
halted when researchers discovered that patients receiving the stents were more than
twice as likely to have a second stroke or die than those treated with conventional
medical therapies. By the time the study was terminated, five people who had received
stents had died, and a total of 46 participants in the trial had experienced a stroke
or died within 30 days of receiving treatment. The researchers in the trial ultimately
learned that the stent was riskier than the alternative treatment.

The Booth researchers believe that their new model would have allowed them to gain
the same knowledge in less time, at less cost, and with less harm to patients: their
research says the model would have prevented more than a third of the total strokes
and deaths.

Birge and Ahuja are continuing to refine the model. It works well with diseases and
treatments when effects reveal themselves quickly, but the model, and adaptively designed
studies in general, works less well when it comes to diseases and treatments whose
effects manifest more slowly, such as diabetes. To address the challenge of applying
the model to diabetes, Birge and Ahuja are working with Elbert Huang, director of
the University of Chicago’s Center for Translational and Policy Research of Chronic
Diseases and a CoA associate, to study doctors who treat diabetes to understand how
they determine the best sequences of treatment to offer patients.

nl2013-newpersonnelNew Associates and Affiliates

The CoA Welcomes New Research Associates and Affiliates

This year the Center on Aging welcomes three new research associates and three new
research affiliates. Megan Huisingh- Scheetz, Masha Kocherginsky, and John Schneider
join the Center as research associates, and Michal Engelman, Juyeon Kim, and Helen
Suh-MacIntosh join the Center as research affiliates.

Megan Huisingh-Scheetz

Megan Huisingh-Scheetz is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Section of Geriatrics at the University
of Chicago. Her primary research interest is in frailty and understanding the role
of energy expenditure in the pathophysiology of aging. Using the NSHAP and Health
ABC datasets her proposed research will explore an earlier marker of age-related system
dysfunction: changes in energy expenditure. She hypothesizes that changes in energy
utilization and regulation will reflect global deteriorations in systemic integrity
and will therefore predict poor outcomes. Huisingh-Scheetz received her M.D. and M.P.H
from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Masha Kocherginsky

Masha Kocherginsky is a Research Associate (Associate Professor) in the Department of Health Studies
and statistician at the Biostatistics Laboratory. Kocherginsky collaborates with biological
and social scientists and provides statistical expertise during all phases of research,
ranging from experimental design and study planning to data analysis and interpretation
of results. The majority of her collaborative work is in cancer research, and the
focus of her statistical research includes development of novel clinical trial designs,
use of multiple imputation methods for censored data in survival analysis, analysis
of competing risks data, and imputation methods in surveys. Prior to coming to the
University of Chicago, Kocherginsky completed her B.S., M.S., and Ph. D. in Statistics
at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

John Schneider

John Schneider, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology, employs social and sexual network
analysis to accelerate prevention of Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Sexually Transmitted
Infections among high-risk males in resource restricted settings. Schneider has expertise
in using technology-supported network approaches, such as cell phones and Facebook,
to recruit and retain difficult-to-reach populations into HIV prevention studies in
both the United States and India. Schneider received his M.P.H. and M.D. from Tufts
University School of Medicine.

Michal Engelman

Michal Engelman is an Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and investigator
on the National Social Life Health and Aging Project. Engelman is a demographer and
gerontologist studying the dynamics of population aging and the determinants of longevity
and well-being at older ages. She is currently analyzing the implications of historical
population change for contemporary health inequalities and developing a conceptual
framework linking demographic and clinical notions of frailty and resilience with
the sociological concept of cumulative disadvantage. Engelman completed her Ph.D.
in Population and Health at the Johns Hopkins University.

Juyeon Kim

Juyeon Kim received her Ph.D. in Sociology at the University of Chicago and spent two years
as a post-doctoral fellow at the Center on Aging. She is currently an assistant professor
in the Department of Sociology at the National University of Singapore. Kim is interested
in the effects of social contexts, such as marital relationships, households, and
social networks, on health outcomes. Her recent work examines the effect of the economic
downturn on living arrangements, and how the size and complexity of role relationships
of social networks influence older adults’ health, including depressive symptoms and
hypertension.

Helen Suh-MacIntosh

Helen Suh-MacIntosh is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Sciences at Northeastern, adjunct
faculty at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), and Senior Fellow at NORC at
the University of Chicago. Suh’s research focuses on three general areas within air
pollution health effects, including (1) assessment of the impact of lifestyle and
neighborhoods on air pollutant exposures and human health, (2) examination of multi-pollutant
impacts on human health, and (3) development of GIS-based spatio-temporal modeling
tools for epidemiological research. She is currently collaborating with Drs. Linda
Waite and Kate Cagney to investigate the impacts of air pollution and lifestyle on
the cardiac and cognitive health of older Americans.

nl2013-trainingCoA Training Program

Every year, the Center on Aging Specialized Training Program in Demography and Economics
of Aging (NIA T32000243) supports four pre-doctoral fellows and two post-doctoral
fellows with at least two years of graduate work in aging research at the University
of Chicago. Since its inception in the 1994-1995 academic year the training program
has consistently produced productive and engaged young scholars in the field of aging
and demography. The CoA welcomes the new and continuing pre- and post-doctoral fellows
for the 2013-2014 academic year.

Pre-Doctoral Trainees

Lauren Johnson-Pilgrim

Lauren Johnson-Pilgrim is a PhD candidate in Sociology. She received her BA from Kenyon College and her
MA from the University of Chicago. Her dissertation focuses on the role social networks
play for sufficient and healthy eating in later life. Her research interests include:
social foundations of health and well-being over the life course, poverty/inequality,
and organizational sociology. Lauren also serves on the board of The Theraplay Institute,
an organization that advances clinical research into the benefits of play therapy
for encouraging deeper attachment between children and their caregivers.

Alicia Riley

Alicia Riley is a first year doctoral student in Sociology at University of Chicago. She received
her Master of Public Health degree from Johns Hopkins University and her MA in Latin
American Studies and BA in Human Biology from Stanford University. Her research interests
lie in social determinants of population health, with a focus on chronic disease,
and methods for measuring the impact of social inequality on health outcomes.

NaYoung Rim

NaYoung Rim is a PhD student at the Harris School of Public Policy Studies. She holds an MPP
from the University of Chicago Harris School and a BA in Economics from Wellesley
College. She was an intern at the White House Council of Economic Advisors in 2010
and has worked previously in economic consulting.

Chris Sukhu

Chris Sukhu is a fourth year PhD student in the Department of Sociology at the University of
Chicago. He received his BA in Economics from Georgetown University. His research
interests include the process of the demographic transition, patterns of consumption
in older populations, and the measures and determinants of subjective wellbeing.

Pre-Doctoral Affiliate

Haena Lee

Haena Lee is a fourth-year doctoral student in the Department of Sociology. She received her
BA from University of Seoul and her MA from University of Chicago. Her research interests
lie in the role of various social-demographic factors on general health outcomes.
She is particularly interested in how individual attributes such as gender, race,
family structure and employment status interweave with health disparities. Her previous
work spans two different research areas: (1) the impact of maternal work schedule
on childhood obesity and (2) racial disparities in access to renal dialysis facilities.

Post-Doctoral Fellows

Vishal Ahuja

Vishal Ahuja received his undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering from Panjab University
(India) in 1997, followed by a Masters degree in the same field in 2001 from the University
of Toronto. He received an MBA and a PhD from the University of Chicago Booth School
of Business in 2013. Vishal's research focuses on developing decision analytic tools
that can be easily implemented by healthcare professionals and policymakers to improve
patient health, advance the quality of care, and enhance the efficiency of delivery
of care. Presently, Vishal is working on understanding how physicians and organizations
learn (for example, about the safety and effectiveness of drugs,) and what factors
promote efficient learning.

Michael Kozloski

Michael Kozloski received his BS and MS in statistics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in
2003/2005 and his MA and PhD in sociology from the University of Chicago in 2007/2012.
His areas of emphasis are demography, social statistics, gender and sexuality. He
is currently working on the National Social Life, Health & Aging Project to understand
how levels of stress differ by marital status and sexual orientation via self-reports
and measured cortisol.

nl2013-grantsGrants

Ongoing and Recent Research Grants

The Center on Aging is committed to interdisciplinary scientific research on aging,
with the goal of understanding how health and health disparities are produced at older
ages. Its four key research themes are 1) family, social relationships and the life
course; 2) biobehavioral and genetic pathways; 3) chronic disease, clinical practice
and cost-effectiveness; and 4) social and environmental contexts. Some examples of
ongoing and recent awards are highlighted below:

Elbert Huang: Diabetes and Aging in a Multi-Ethnic Population

Since 2007, CoA associate Elbert Huang has collaborated with Andy Karter from the Kaiser
Foundation Research Institute to prospectively examine ethnic differences in the natural
history of diabetes and their effect on care and outcomes in the elderly. With funding
from the NIDDK, Huang, the University of Chicago Site PI, and CoA associate and co-investigator
Marshall Chin, are currently following a large contemporary, multi-ethnic cohort of
112,000 older (60+ years of age) diabetes patients identified from the Kaiser Permanente
Northern California Diabetes Registry to: 1) characterize the current state of diabetes
care management by health status, evaluate quality of life, and estimate rates of
traditional complications, hypoglycemia, geriatric syndromes and mortality; 2) describe
the interrelationships of hypoglycemia and geriatric syndromes; 3) evaluate the effects
of antihyperglycemic therapies and polypharmacy on hypoglycemia, geriatric syndromes,
and mortality; 4) create a generalized prediction model for 5-year, all-cause mortality
and evaluate the performance of existing prognostic mortality prediction models; and
5) explore the health policy implications of the widespread adoption of geriatric
diabetes guidelines.

This multi-institution, prospective study will expand the field’s understanding of
the dynamics of healthcare and outcomes among elderly diabetes patients. The researchers
seek to provide important insight into the validity and implications of geriatric
guidelines, and help ensure that quality improvement efforts for geriatric diabetes
care are not at odds with efforts to improve diabetes outcomes and will not increase
health disparities within health systems.

Naoko Muramatsu, CoA affiliate, was awarded a grant from the NIA in June 2013 to develop
a sustainable health promotion program led by home care aides that can be used by
community-based organizations (e.g. home care agencies, State Units on Aging) to maintain
independence among nursing home-eligible older adults living in their homes. Muramatsu
plans to pilot a physical activity program delivered by home care aides for community-dwelling
older adults in a Medicaid- funded home care program. The physical activity program,
which consists of a brief motivational interview and three chair- bound movements,
is expected to motivate nursing home- eligible seniors to increase physical activity
and help maintain their independence in the community. The specific aims of the research
are: to (1) test and enhance the program feasibility, and (2) test and enhance the
feasibility of data collection and the applicability of outcome measures.

Helen Suh-MacIntosh: Impact of Air Pollution, Weather, and Lifestyle on Health in
Older Americans

The NIEHS awarded CoA affiliate Helen Suh a grant in September 2013 to study the individual
and joint impacts of air quality and lifestyle on cardiovascular and cognitive health
in the elderly. The project will link data from the National Social Life, Health,
and Aging Project (NSHAP) to estimates of daily and monthly PM2.5, ozone, and temperature
exposures from well- validated GIS- and satellite-based spatio-temporal models to
create a progressive, detailed and comprehensive record of the exposure, health, and
well-being of each NSHAP participant.

The research has four aims: to 1) examine the relationship among air quality, lifestyle,
emotional, physical, and functional health; 2) assess whether short term air pollution
and temperature exposures are associated with increased blood pressure and c-reactive
protein; 3) evaluate relationships between long-term air quality and impaired cognitive
function and stress, and 4) investigate whether the cardiovascular and cognitive function
response to air pollution is modified by social, neighborhood, and health factors.

The researchers expect to provide new, national evidence of air quality- and lifestyle-mediated
risks of poor cardiovascular and cognitive health for the nation's elderly. Results
will help to assess susceptibility to pollution and climate change and determine important
biological and sociological pathways through which air quality damages cardiovascular
and cognitive health.

The CoA applauds its associates and affiliates for their accomplishments!

nl2013-fogelRobert Fogel, 1926-2013

Robert Fogel, Won Nobel Prize in Economics, 1926-2013

Robert Fogel, 1926-2013

was the Charles R. Walgreen Distinguished Service Professor of American Institutions
and Director of the Center for Population Economics.

By Ethan Grove

Robert W. Fogel, an economic historian at the University of Chicago who won the Nobel
Prize in 1993 for his studies of slavery in the United States and the role railroads
played in the development of the economy, died Tuesday, June 11. His death at age
86 followed a brief illness, according to his family.

Fogel used quantitative methods to explain economic and institutional change. His work
often challenged conventional wisdom and was, at the time, controversial. His research
showed that the economic impact of railroads in the 19th century was far less than
generally assumed.

“Professor Fogel has changed the way that people think about several really important
topics through his work.

When you find such a new way of thinking about things, that’s going to discomfort some
people,” said Hoyt Bleakley, associate professor of economics at Chicago Booth, who
taught a course with Fogel this year.

Fogel was an active faculty member in Economics and the Booth School of Business, where
he continued to do research and taught three courses covering the economics and demographics
of marketing, population and the economy, and business ethics. Fogel was the Charles
R. Walgreen Distinguished Service Professor of American Institutions, director of
the University of Chicago Center for Population Economics and a faculty member of
the John U. Nef Committee on Social Thought.

“He gave his students, staff and collaborators an incredible amount of freedom,” said
Joseph Burton, executive director of the Coase-Sandor Institute for Law and Economics
at the University of Chicago. “I was always struck by how supportive he was of original
thinking, and by how much freedom we had to carry out his research agenda, as well
as build our own projects and interests.”

Burton, who is a former research director at the Center for Population Economics, said
Fogel always made sure to credit others for their work, and was a mentor to many economists
and economic historians.

“It’s been a real pleasure to be in the classroom with him because he had such a unique
perspective that was informed in part by his lifetime of work as well as by his personal
experiences,” Bleakley said. “He was always thinking about the world from the perspective
of an economist and from the perspective of a data cruncher. He was very interested
in how the world works and in how our lives have changed and will continue to change.”

Nathaniel Grotte, associate director of the Center for Population Economics, said,
“What will really stick with me is his incredible generosity with his time and expertise,
and how unfailingly kind he always was to everyone. He thrived on discussion and debate,
and nothing made him happier than being challenged.”

Fogel first attracted attention as a PhD student at the Johns Hopkins University in
1962 with his statistical analysis of the impact of railroads on 19th-century American
economic development. In his book Railroads and American Economic Growth: Essays in
Econometric History, he showed that the U.S. economy in the 1800s would have grown
at the same rate, even if railroads didn’t exist.

His book, Time on the Cross: The Economics of American Negro Slavery, written with
Stanley Engerman, sparked debate from the moment it was published in 1974. In it,
Fogel and Engerman challenged the long-held assumption, by then taken as fact, that
slavery was unprofitable, inefficient and in decline in the years leading up to the
Civil War. Their research found that slave farms were as productive as free farms
and that the viability of slavery — as well as the economy of the antebellum South
— was increasing. His four-volume Without Consent or Contract: The Rise and Fall of
American Slavery continued to generate controversy.

Fogel and Engerman met when both were at Johns Hopkins. “We shared an office in the
attic with about four other people,” Engerman said, adding that while in school the
pair already had started thinking about the research that would become Time on the
Cross, but they had to wait until Fogel had finished Railroads and American Economic
Growth.

“He was quite willing to approach problems in a way that other people didn’t,” Engerman
said. “He looked at them in a different way than most other people did. By asking
slightly different questions he was able to learn quite a lot and teach people a lot.
He also was probably as hard a working person as anyone would meet.”

In the 1980s, Fogel began to focus on what he called “the problem of creating and studying
larger life-cycle and intergenerational data sets.” This research led him to write
many research papers and several books on the economics of aging, including The Escape
from Hunger and Premature Death, and The Changing Body: Health, Nutrition and Human
Development in the Western World since 1700. The Changing Body was written with Roderick
Floud, Bernard Harris and Sok Chul Hong.

During his career, Fogel wrote 22 books—the most recent, released in April, Political
Arithmetic: Simon Kuznets and the Empirical Tradition in Economics. He also was working
on three others at the time of his death. Fogel also published 90 papers in academic
journals. Much of his research since 1991 was supported by grants from the National
Institutes of Health and its National Institute on Aging Program. The National Science
Foundation also funded his research.

Among Fogel’s recent projects was an examination of veterans of the Union Army, Bleakley
said, “which again has been a long, hard slog through data with the intent of seeing
how human health and potential have changed dramatically over time, and of understanding
trends and reasons for those trends.”

“I had the privilege of teaching with Bob Fogel this past year, and I saw some of that
approach in the class we taught. He would take something that the students and I had
a much shorter-term perspective on, and he would just stretch that way out and say,
‘Look, this phenomenon that you may think of here, it also appeared 50 years ago,
100 years ago with this twist.’”

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded Fogel the 1993 Nobel Prize in Economics
“for having renewed research in economic history by applying economic theory and quantitative
methods in order to explain economic and institutional change,” according to the Nobel
citation. The Academy called his study of railroads and American economic growth a
“scientific breakthrough.” Fogel shared the Nobel Prize with Douglass North, a professor
at Washington University in St. Louis.

The Alliance for Aging Research recognized Fogel as the “Indispensable Person in Health
Research” for 2006, for his work on the economics of health and health care.

Fogel was a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a fellow of the American
Association for the Advancement of Science, and was chosen as one of the “1,000 Makers
of the 20th Century” by the London Times.

Fogel was president of the American Economic Association in 1998.

During his academic career, he spoke at more than 230 faculty seminars and workshops
at colleges and universities around the world.

Fogel was born in New York City on July 1, 1926 — four years after his parents emigrated
from Odessa, Russia. “Although they arrived in New York penniless, my parents scraped
together enough savings to establish the first of several small businesses just after
I was born,” he wrote in an autobiography posted on the Nobel Prize website.

“My education in the public schools of New York City between 1932 and 1944 was an excellent
preparation for a life in science,” he wrote. “Because of the Depression, these schools
were able to attract a remarkably talented and dedicated collection of teachers who
encouraged their students to strive for the highest levels of accomplishment. That
environment led me to aspire to a career in science, and also kindled my love for
literature and history.”

“Many people think of intellectuals as being above such things as pride in one’s country
and patriotism,” Burton said. “He had a deep appreciation for this country and its
institutions, and often acknowledged the ways his career had been made possible because
his parents had immigrated to the U.S. before he was born.”

Fogel was married to his wife, Enid, for 59 years until her death in 2007. “No individual
has done more to help me pursue a career in science” than his wife, he wrote in his
autobiography. “Over the years, Enid has been both my most confident supporter and
keenest critic. She helped boost my self-confidence when my unorthodox findings provoked
controversy and criticism, and she often provided insightful suggestions for the improvement
of my lectures, papers, books, letters and research proposals.

“Throughout the years she has been the overseer of my social conscience, pulling me
back to reality when she saw that my preoccupation with the abstract aspects of scientific
issues had led me to extenuate their deeply human aspects.”

Fogel joined the University of Chicago faculty in 1964, moved to Harvard in 1975, and
returned in 1981 to the Chicago faculty, where he stayed for the rest of his career.
He taught at the University of Rochester from 1960 to 1964.

Fogel received a PhD from the Johns Hopkins University, a master’s degree from Columbia
University and a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University. He received nine honorary
degrees, including those from Cambridge, Harvard, the University of Rochester, the
University of Palermo in Italy and the University of London.

While studying for his bachelor’s degree at Cornell, Fogel sought out professors with
varied areas of expertise, a move that broadened his perspectives during his five
decades of academic research.

Sons Michael and Steven, who both live in Chicago, five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren,
survive Fogel.

A memorial service for the University community was held on campus on Friday, October
4, 2013. In lieu of flowers, the family encourages donations to Equip for Equality,
a nonprofit organization that advocates for the rights of the disabled. Letters of
condolence may be sent care of: Center for Population Economics, The University of
Chicago Booth School of Business, 5807 S. Woodlawn Ave., Chicago, IL 60637.

nl2013-demogwsDemography Workshop

Fall Quarter Demography Workshop Schedule

Co-sponsored by the Population Research Center and the Center on Aging, the Demography
Workshop is held on Thursdays from noon to 1:20 p.m. at 1155 East 60th Street, Seminar
Room 232/233 during the fall, winter, and spring quarters. Dan Bennett is the organizer
for Fall 2013, and Amy Claessens will organize for Winter 2014. Papers, if available,
are posted at:http://popcenter.uchicago.edu/.

October 3

Mushfiq Mobarak, Associate Professor of Economics, Yale School of Management

Communicating with Farmers through Social Networks

October 10

Daniel Bennett, Assistant Professor of Public Policy, University of Chicago Harris School

The Indirect Impact of Antiretroviral Therapy

October 17

John Iceland, Professor of Sociology and Demography, The Pennsylvania State University

White Residential Segregation in U.S. Metropolitan Areas: Conceptual Issues,
Patterns, and Trends for the U.S. Census, 1980 to 2010

October 24

Abhijit Banerjee, Professor of Economics, MIT

The Efficient Deployment of Police Resources: Theory and New Evidence from
a Randomized Drunk Driving Crackdown in India

LeadershipLeadership

WaiteLinda Waite, Director

CagneyKate Cagney, Assoc. Director

HenningSara Henning, Investigator

ParksKathleen Parks, Admin. Director

Linda Waite's research interests include social demography, aging, the family, health,
working families, the link between biology, psychology and the social world. As
the Lucy Flower Professor in Sociology at the University of Chicago and Director of
the Chicago Center on Demography and Economics of Aging, Professor Waite has conducted
a pioneering study on marriage, which argues that marriage changes people's behavior
in ways that promote economic, emotional and physical well-being. She also has studied
the decision to cohabit, the transition from cohabitation to marriage and the characteristics
of cohabiting unions. Waite has examined the role of religious participation over
the life course and the lives of working couples with children.

Waite's current research projects include studies on the National Social Life, Health,
and Illness Project (Principal Investigator) and the NIA-funded Center on Demography
and Aging (Principal Investigator). She has also played key roles in Contemporary
Families and Experiences of Work (Co-Principal Investigator); The Social Environment,
Loneliness, Stress and Health (Co-Principal Investigators); Loneliness, Stress and
Health in Aging (Investigator). The National Social Life, Health and Aging Project
(NSHAP) recently received new funding to support a second wave of data collection
and a second award to support the NSHAP partner survey. NSHAP is a comprehensive
national survey of sexual attitudes, behaviors and problems among older adults in
the United States that has found that most people ages 57 to 85 think of sexuality
as an important part of life and that the frequency of sexual activity, for those
who are active, declines only slightly from the 50s to the early 70s.

Kathleen Cagney is the Director of Population Research Center (PRC) at the National
Opinion Research Center (NORC), which facilitates population research by economists,
sociologists, psychologists, public policy scientists, and scientists in other disciplines
such as social services administration and medicine.
Dr. Cagney is an Associate Professor of Health Services Research in the Department
of Health Studies and is a faculty associate in the Department of Comparative Human
Development. She is also a member of the Center for Cognitive and Social Neuroscience,
a center that goes beyond disciplinary boundaries to better understand the complexities
of human behavior and emphasizes interdisciplinary work that cuts across levels of
analysis including the economic, social, behavioral, psychological, neural, physiological,
cellular molecular, and genetic levels of organization. She teaches the demography
of aging in the Department of Health Studies and has been associated with the Center
since she came to the University of Chicago as an NIA postdoctoral fellow.

Her special research interests include neighborhood effects and health, race and
ethnic differences in access to health care and long-term care, life course approaches
to research in health, and health status assessment. Dr. Cagney is the Principal Investigator
of the NIA-funded research grant, Neighborhood Context and the Health of Older Adults,
which examines the extent to which neighborhood context influences the health and
well-being of older adults, and, in turn, how the presence of older adults in the
community affects neighborhood social cohesion and stability. She is also the Principal
Investigator of a subcontract on the NIH-funded research grant, SES and Age Related
Disability in a Bi-racial Community, which investigates the effect of socioeconomic
disadvantage and neighborhood conditions on disability in older Blacks and Whites,
using a population-based longitudinal study of persons aged 65 years and over who
live in a geographically defined, urban, biracial community area in Chicago. Cagney
also serves as an investigator for NSHAP.

Sara Henning, Ph.D., is a Senior Research Scientist in the Academic Research Centers
at NORC. Dr. Henning is also the Associate Director of Training for the Center on
Demography and Economics of Aging at the University of Chicago and NORC. She directs
the analytic team for the National Social Life Health and Aging Project (NSHAP), a
national study examining the relationship between health and social life in the context
of aging. NSHAP includes nine senior investigators and a dozen other researchers.
Dr. Henning coordinates the analytic efforts of this large team to insure quality,
consistent outcomes research. She led the efforts for a Special Issue in the Journals
of Gerontology: Social Sciences (2010) which introduced the NSHAP data to the research
community.

Dr. Henning obtained her Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies at Pennsylvania
State University, specializing in gerontology. Dr. Henning has conducted dementia
research in both the field and clinical settings, contributing to her proficiency
in adapting and administering cognitive assessment batteries. Her research interests
focus on the relationship between social factors and health in the aging, particularly
in the areas of functional impairment, disability and elder mistreatment. She has
published in the areas of dementia-related caregiving, long-term care, and elder mistreatment
and she has extensive analytical experience in the study of patient–care-giver dyads
and longitudinal design.

As Senior Vice President and Director of the Academic Research Center at NORC, Ms.
Parks oversees a $6 million research and training program associated with the University
of Chicago faculty. She directs the day-to-day activities of four research centers
containing 30+ active research projects valued at more than $20 million. She manages
a department of more than 75 employees and an annual budget of $5.5 million to support
administration, research development, analytical research, and data collection to
ensure the integrity of research data. She also participates in budget development
and strategic planning as a member of the senior management team.

Ms. Parks also oversees NORC’s research library, its archives, and its Institutional
Review Board (IRB), which provides oversight of human subject research.

Ms. Parks professional career includes facilitation of the intellectual and programmatic
activities of the Population Research Center and the Center on Aging. For these programs,
she developed institutional grant proposals and managed associated activities, including
a weekly research seminar series. She also planned and oversaw national conferences
and acted as liaison among the many constituencies of the Center and provided collaboration
to NORC’s financial management staff regarding Center budgets.

Ms. Parks' professional experience also includes more than fifteen years as an arts
administrator and program manager at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she
was affiliated with the Elvehjem Museum of Art and the School of Music. There, she
wrote successful grant applications to the National Endowment for the Arts, National
Endowment for the Humanities, Institute for Museum Services, Wisconsin Arts Board,
and other cultural arts organizations and foundations. In addition, she was involved
in the establishment of the Sunday Afternoon Live at the Elvehjem, a program that
brought musicians into a museum setting for an afternoon concert. Ms. Parks designed
and managed an arts education program, raised funds to support arts research and programming,
engaged in outreach and public information, and established a small local arts program
that brought poetry, theatre and the visual arts to low-income children in public
housing projects.

Dept: Academic Research Centers

National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago

Phone: 773-256-6302

ResearchersResearch Associates and Affiliates

ResearchAssociatesResearch Associates

ResearchAffiliatesResearch Affiliates

The breadth and quality of the University of Chicago faculty benefits the Center on
Aging by providing a highly diverse faculty of Research Associates with ties in sociology,
economics, the Booth School of Business, the Pritzker School of Medicine, the School
of Social Service Administration, and the Harris School of Public Policy, including
scholars whose specialties cross many of the above departments. Particularly in the
areas of health care studies, biopsychology, and socioeconomic determinants of health,
the research portfolios of most faculty members draw upon expertise in medicine, epidemiology,
and the biological and social sciences. Many of these faculty members have formal
training in multiple disciplines.

The Center on Aging also includes an impressive group of Research Affiliates. Some
affiliates hold research appointments within the University, some are Research Scientists
or Research Associates at NORC, some hold faculty appointments at other institutions
and participate in CoA activities, and some are faculty members who left the University
for other appointments but retained their ties to and involvement in the Center.

TrainingTraining Program Fellows and Affiliates

PredocTraineesPre-Doctoral Trainees

PredocAffiliatesPre-Doctoral Affiliates

Haena Lee is a fourth-year doctoral student in the Department of Sociology. She received her
BA from University of Seoul and her MA from University of Chicago. Her research interests
lie in the role of various social-demographic factors on general health outcomes.
She is particularly interested in how individual attributes such as gender, race,
family structure and employment status interweave with health disparities. Her previous
work spans two different research areas: (1) the impact of maternal work schedule
on childhood obesity and (2) racial disparities in access to renal dialysis facilities.

PostdocFellowsPost-Doctoral Fellows

The training program on the Demography and Economics of Aging at the Center fulfills
important needs for demographic training, both within the University and in the nation.
Much like the faculty of the CoA, students with interests in the demography and economics
of aging have administrative homes across a number of schools and departments. Trainees
are primarily from three schools, Economics, Sociology and the Harris School of Public
Policy Studies, although occasional students from other departments apply. Current
pre-doctoral and post-doctoral trainees have backgrounds from economics, sociology,
and public health with research interests in the family, occupations, labor economics,
gender theory, health economics, social psychology, and sexuality.

In Internet Explorer versions up to 8, things inside the canvas are inaccessible!

ActiveGrantsActive Grants

NSHAP-W2NSHAP Wave II

ExceptionalLongevityBiodemography of Exceptional Longevity

SleepImproving Sleep

SocialGeneSocial Regulation of Gene Expression

EndothelialEndothelial Function Study

SexAgeHeartSexuality, Aging and Heart Disease

PilotGrantsPilot Grants

MetabolicCostMetabolic Cost of Aging

LinkingNSHAP1NSHAP2Linking NSHAP 1 and 2

VisionInSeniorsVision in Senior Inpatients

LTCPreferencesLong-term Care Preferences

GeographicVariationsGeographic Variations in Relationships

OlfactoryDeclineOlfactory Decline in Aging

DataIntegrationData Integration

PublicationsRecent Publications

NSHAPNSHAP

NSHAP Data

The health of older adults is influenced by many factors. One of the least understood
is the role that social support and personal relationships play in health and aging.
The National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP) is a longitudinal, population-based
study of health and social factors, aiming to understand the well-being of older,
community-dwelling Americans by examining the interactions among physical health and
illness, medication use, cognitive function, emotional health, sensory function, health
behaviors, social connectedness, sexuality, and relationship quality. NSHAP provides
policy makers, health providers, and individuals with useful information and insights
into these factors, particularly on social and intimate relationships. The study contributes
to finding new ways to improve health as people age.

In 2005 and 2006, NORC and Principal Investigators at the University of Chicago conducted
the first wave of NSHAP, completing more than 3,000 interviews with a nationally representative
sample of adults aged 57 to 85. In 2010 and 2011, nearly 3,400 interviews were completed
for Wave 2 with these Wave 1 Respondents, Wave 1 Non-Interviewed Respondents, and
their spouses or cohabiting romantic partners. The second wave of NSHAP is essential
to understanding how social and biological characteristics change. NSHAP, by eliciting
a variety of information from respondents over time, provides data that will allow
researchers in a number of fields to examine how specific factors may or may not affect
each other across the life course. For both waves, data collection included three
measurements: in-home interviews, biomeasures, and leave-behind respondent-administered
questionnaires. The face-to-face interviews and biomeasure collection took place in
respondents' homes

JSTARJSTAR

JSTAR Data

Data from the first wave of the Japanese Study of Aging and Retirement (JSTAR) is available
for public use. JSTAR is designed to be highly comparable to the HRS, SHARE and ELSA
studies. Shared data on Japan is quite rare, so this is an exciting development. Information
about the study and application procedures for accessing the data can be found at
theRIETI website.

Data from the first wave of the Japanese Study of Aging and Retirement (JSTAR) is available
for public use. JSTAR is designed to be highly comparable to the HRS, SHARE and ELSA
studies. Shared data on Japan is quite rare, so this is an exciting development. Information
about the study and application procedures for accessing the data can be found at
the RIETI website.

ApplicationsHow to Apply

PredocAffiliatesPre-Doctoral Affiliates

The Center on Aging training program, funded by the NIA, is designed to train graduate
students interested in the fields of demography and economics of aging through development
of basic and applied research, and policy-making and analysis. The program has recently
expanded to support student affiliates in order to work with students earlier in their
graduate studies and increase collaboration in aging research and training among students
who would not otherwise qualify for support from the program’s fellowships. Pre-doctoral
affiliates actively participate in the training program, taking classes, working with
Center mentors, and attending the Demography Workshop and postmortem.

Benefits

Affiliates benefit from (1) early guidance in the development of research ideas and
areas of specialty; (2) guidance, training and support in manuscript development,
conference presentations and grant applications; and (3) direction in terms of aging
related courses and training. Moreover, Center on Demography and Economics of Aging
affiliates better positions themselves for future pre- or postdoctoral fellowships.

Additionally, all trainees and affiliates benefit from: formal affiliation with the
Center on Aging, an active research environment in the study of demography and aging;
participation in a community of graduate student and postdoctoral level scholars;
training in the practice of research on aging; training in the responsible conduct
of research; and additional mentorship with University of Chicago faculty.

Eligibility

Candidates must be interested indemography or the
economics of aging and must be a Ph.D. candidate in
their first three years of graduate work. Previous
research in demography or the economics of aging is not
necessary; however, a future commitment is.

Application Materials

All affiliate applicants must submit all application materials to Sara Henning at the
address below by December 15 for the following academic year. The application period
for the 2010-2011 academic year has ended. Applications may be submitted electronically
in PDF format. However, applicants must note that (1) recommendation letters must
be signed by the recommender and (2) applicants should follow the registrar’s instructions
to submit an electronic copy of the official transcript.

Application materials for the Center on Demography and Economics of Aging NIA pre-doctoral
training program include:

Applicant’s Curriculum Vitae

A statement of research interests

Applications are generally 3-5 pages; however, successful applicants have submitted
statements that range in length and scope. Please note that there is no page limit
for the statement of research interests but we encourage all applicants to provide
enough information for the Center to make thoughtful decision in respect to applicants’
interests, experience, and aspirations.

For more information, please contact Sara Henning at 773-256-6319 or by email at henning-sara@norc.org.

PredocsPre-Doctoral Fellowships

With support from the NIA, the University of Chicago offers four pre-doctoral fellowships
through its Center on Demography and Economics of Aging. The goal of these pre-doctoral
fellowships is to train graduate students interested in the fields of demography and
economics of aging through development of basic and applied research, and policy-making
and analysis.

Benefits

As of 2010, the NIA pre-doctoral fellowships carry a stipend of $21,180 and health
insurance for the recipient fellow. Please note that the fellowship does not provide
for family or spousal health insurance. Fellows are eligible for modest travel support
and work space; however, both are dependent on availability. Fellowships are renewable
with acceptable progress.

Additionally, all trainees and affiliates benefit from: formal affiliation with the
Center on Aging, an active research environment in the study of demography and aging;
participation in a community of graduate student and postdoctoral level scholars;
training in the practice of research on aging; training in the responsible conduct
of research; and additional mentorship with University of Chicago faculty.

Eligibility

Candidates must be interested indemography or the economics of aging and must be a Ph.D. candidate with at least two years of graduate work. Fellowships
are restricted to U.S. citizens and permanent residents. Previous research in demography or the economics of aging is not necessary; however,
a future commitment is.

Interested students in the first three years of graduate school are encouraged to apply
to the Center’s training affiliates program, however, are ineligible for the funded
training fellowship. Please go to “How to Apply: Affiliates” for more information.

Application Materials

All pre-doctoral applicants must submit all application materials to Sara Henning at
the address below by December 15 for the following academic year. The application
period for the 2010-2011 academic year has ended. Applications may be submitted electronically
in PDF format. However, applicants must note that (1) recommendation letters must
be signed by the recommender and (2) applicants should follow the registrar’s instructions
to submit an electronic copy of the official transcript.

Application materials for the Center on Demography and Economics of Aging NIA pre-doctoral
training program include:

One letter of recommendation from a faculty member affiliated with the Center on Demography
and Economics of Aging who will serve as the applicant’s advisor.

Official transcript

Applicant’s Curriculum Vitae

A statement of research interests

Applications are generally 3-5 pages; however, successful applicants have submitted
statements that range in length and scope. Please note that there is no page limit
for the statement of research interests but we encourage all applicants to provide
enough information for the Center to make thoughtful decision in respect to applicants’
interests, experience, and aspirations.

For more information, please contact Melissa Howe at (773) 256-6164 or by email at
howe-melissa@norc.org.

PostdocsPost-Doctoral Trainees

Call for Applications: Postdoctoral Fellowship

Summary

With support from the National Institute of Aging (P30 AG012857), the Center on the
Demography and Economics of Aging at NORC at University of Chicago offers two postdoctoral
fellowships. The goal of these postdoctoral fellowships is to train recent doctoral
recipients interested in the demographic and economic analysis of aging through the
development of basic methodological tools, applied research, policy-making and analysis,
and professional development.

Benefits

The NIA postdoctoral fellowship 2014-2015 stipend starts at an amount TBA and is adjusted
according to years of experience (stipend information for past years is available
atNIH). Fellowships
are renewable with acceptable progress. The
fellowship includes health insurance for the
recipient fellow. Please note that the fellowship
does not provide for family or spousal health
insurance. Fellows are eligible for modest travel
support and work space; both are dependent on
availability.

Additionally, all trainees and affiliates benefit from: formal affiliation with the
Center on Demography and Economics of Aging, an active research environment in the
study of demography and aging; participation in a community of graduate student and
postdoctoral level scholars; training in the practice of research on aging; training
in the responsible conduct of research; and additional mentorship with University
of Chicago faculty.

Eligibility

Candidates must be interested in demography or the economics of aging and have a PhD
or equivalent graduate degree. Fellowships are restricted to U.S. citizens and permanent
residents. Previous research in demography or the economics of aging is not necessary;
however, a future commitment is.

Application Materials

All application materials must be submitted to Melissa Howe at the address below by
Tuesday, February 4, 2014. Applications may be submitted electronically in PDF format.
However, recommendation letters must be signed by the recommender.

Application materials for the Center on the Demography and Economics of Aging NIA postdoctoral
training program include: 1) letter of interest; 2) personal statement outlining the
applicant’s research agenda; 3) curriculum vitae; 4) two letters of recommendation;
and 5) a sample of written work or a recent publication.

There is no page limit for the statement of research interests but we encourage all
applicants to provide enough information for the Center to make thoughtful decision
in respect to applicants’ interests, experience, and aspirations. Applications are
generally 3-5 pages; however, successful applicants have submitted statements that
range in length and scope.

The Center on Aging training program, funded by the NIA, is designed to traingraduate and post-doctoral
students interested in the fields of demography and
economics of aging through development of basic and
applied research, and policy-making and analysis.

The Specialized Training Program in the Demography and Economics of Aging is funded
by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) grant, #T32000243. Since its inception during
the 1994-95 school year, the program has consistently produced productive and engaged
young scholars in the field of aging research and demography. The program is designed
to train graduate students interested in the demography and economics of aging through
the development of basic and applied research, and policy-making and analysis.

Each year, the program supports four predoctoral fellows with at least two years of
graduate work at the University of Chicago in addition to two postdoctoral fellows
from across the United States. In 2009, the training program was expanded to include
student affiliates, who do not qualify for financial support the program’s NIA fellowships,
in their first three years of graduate work at the University in addition to the six
trainees. In addition to the pre-doctoral and postdoctoral trainees, pre-doctoral
affiliates actively participate in the training program, taking classes, working with
Center mentors, and attending the Demography Workshop and postmortem. This expansion
further increases exposure to the demography and economics of aging research among
incoming graduate students; encourages young scholars to pursue demography and aging
research; and increases collaboration in aging research at the CoA, the Population
Research Center, and the University of Chicago.

The three departments/schools that participate in the training program are Economics,
Sociology and the Harris School of Public Policy Studies, with some faculty from the
Health Studies Department, the School of Social Service Administration and the Booth
Graduate School of Business. In addition, the program attracts occasional applicants
from other departments and schools including Health Studies, History, Human Development
and the Booth Graduate School of Business and the School of Social Service Administration.

DemographyWorkshopDemography Workshop

Since the 1984-85 academic year, students and faculty from across the University campus
have gathered for a weekly seminar providing an interdisciplinary forum for research
in demography, the demography of aging and related fields at both Chicago and NORC.
The University of Chicago’s population studies community views population processes
as best understood through multiple lenses and the Demography Workshop advances this
idea. The composition of the audience reflects our interdisciplinary research team
– attendees come from Sociology, Economics, Medicine, Health Studies, Psychology,
Human Development, the School of Social Service Administration, and the Harris School
of Public Policy. The Demography Workshop helps to facilitate connections and interactions
within the broader research community, allowing both the presenters and attendees
to come in dialogue and work towards solutions.

Information for Students and Trainees

The weekly University of Chicago Demography Workshop has played a unique and central
role in integrating advanced graduate students into the intellectual life of the demography
program of the Committee on Demographic Training (CDT), training graduate students
in demographic studies, preparing them for the public presentations of their work
which they will face at professional meetings and colloquia, and exposing them to
the interdisciplinary intellectual exchange that is central to the practice of contemporary
American demography. No other teaching activity at the University of Chicago provides
students with intense, regular exposure to interdisciplinary debate about contemporary
demographic research.

The Demography Workshop “post-mortem” seminar is designed to facilitate discussion
among pre- and postdoctoral trainees. These trainees gather for 30 minutes after the
close of the Demography Workshop to discuss the strengths, weaknesses, and potential
contributions of the work just presented. All CoA and PRC trainees are expected to
attend and may register for the post-mortem for course credit, SOCI 60015/ECON 61000.
The seminar is facilitated by a member of the Demography Workshop planning committee,
drawn from the Center on Aging and Population Research Center faculty associates each
quarter. The Autumn 2010 Post-Mortem seminars will be moderated by: Kathleen Cagney
(Health Studies), Jung-Hwa Ha (Social Service Administration), Scott Allard (Social
Service Administration), and Amy Claessens (Harris School of Public Policy Studies).
The faculty members guide the discussion about analytical techniques, sampling strategies,
and other demographic tools underlying the workshop presentation. The facilitator
generally does not invite the Workshop speaker—the seminar is meant to provide a forum
for students to focus on one another’s questions, comments, and observations about
the research.

The general aim of the seminar is to encourage students to think critically about the
presentation. The focus is on theory and methods, but execution is also addressed
(i.e., what was most/least effective in terms of the structure of the presentation).
The trainees benefit not only from the in-depth discussion of the research, but from
the consistent and direct interaction with trainees from other disciplines. The interdisciplinary
nature of our Center means that our trainees may not have met while enrolled in core
courses—the seminar insures that trainees develop an intellectual community beyond
their home.

CCBARWorkshopCCBAR Workshop

TheChicago
Core on Biomarkers in Population-Based Aging Research
(CCBAR) hosts an annual workshop to promote an
interdisciplinary approach to the study of health in
aging populations. The CCBAR workshops offer a unique
opportunity to facilitate an ongoing dialogue and
establish a network of scientists actively engaged in
biomarker collection in population-based research on
aging. Topics covered in the workshops include: (1)
updates on the most recent technological developments in
the collection of biomarkers of disease, cognition,
function, and medication use among older adults; (2)
integrating social and biological data in multilevel,
integrated analyses, including exploration of the most
useful theoretical and statistical models; (3) ethical
issues of privacy and reporting; and (4) the
practicalities of collecting biomarkers from older
adults who may have some physical or cognitive
impairment.

Please visit theCCBAR
website for detailed information on the next
workshop and documentation of past proceedings.

ConferencesConferences

In addition to maintaining an active research environment, the Center on Aging hosts
workshops and lectures to advance the study of the Demography and Economics of Aging
both at the University of Chicago and elsewhere. The Demography Workshop (LINK) hosts
scholars from research centers and institutions of higher learning from across the
United States on a weekly basis to present and discuss their research with students
and faculty at the University of Chicago. Additionally, the Center hosts the Chicago
Core on Biomarkers in Population-Based Aging Research’s (CCBAR) annual workshop, which
facilitates an ongoing discussion and collaboration on biomarker collection in population-based
research on aging.

For further information on these and more events at the Center on Aging and related
to the Demography and Economics of aging, please use the navigation links to the left.

The Center on Demography and Economics of Aging (CoA), directed by Linda Waite, is
one of eight research centers housed within the National Opinion Research Center (NORC)
Academic Research Centers at the University of the Chicago. The CoA was established
as an Exploratory Center in 1994 with a P-20 grant from the National Institute on
Aging (NIA). Currently, the CoA (Grant P30 AG012857) is one of fourteen NIA funded
Centers across the U.S. which investigate aspects of health and health care, the societal
impact of population aging, and the economic and social circumstances of the elderly.

The CoA aims to: (1) foster an exciting, dynamic intellectual environment for research
in the demography and economics of aging; (2) provide research support services; (3)
encourage the development of new research projects and research foci in the demography
and economics of aging; and (4) support and facilitate the inclusion and analysis
of biomeasures of health in new and ongoing projects at the University of Chicago
and elsewhere. It provides support for research projects in four key areas: (1) social
relationships, living arrangements, and family; (2) the social context of aging; (3)
health care research; and (4) biobehavioral pathways.

The Center operates using three cores, which facilitate and support an active program
of research and training: (A) the Administration and Research Support Core, directed
by Linda Waite, which provides general administrative support to Center associates;
(B) the Program Development Core, directed by Kathleen Cagney, consisting of a program
of small-scale and pilot projects and support for new faculty development in aging;
and (C) the External Innovative Network Core, directed by Stacy Tessler Lindau, with
a focus on biomarkers in population-based aging research.

The Center supports a highly diverse faculty of 47 research affiliates in sociology,
economics/business, the Pritzker School of Medicine, the School of Social Service
Administration, and the Harris School of Public Policy. The research portfolios of
faculty members draw upon expertise in medicine, epidemiology, and the biological
and social sciences. The Center has nourished an environment for research in the demography
and economics of aging by providing research support services, encouraging the development
of new research projects and research foci, and facilitating collaborative research
and teaching among scientists working in the field of aging research.